Executive Director, Civil Societies Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Auwual Musa-Rafsanjani, has described the Anambra State governorship election as a bad advertisement for Independent National Electoral Commission’s preparation for the 2015 general elections.
Musa-Rafsanjani said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.
He said it was sad that more than one decade after INEC began conducting elections it was still grappling with problems of logistics, including late arrival or non-arrival of staff and voting materials.
Musa-Rafsanjani said, “This election shows clearly that 2015 is not going to be any different from previous elections. In fact, the gains recorded in the 2011 elections have been eroded because the ruling party practically had its way in circumventing the process in connivance with some INEC officials.”
In a similar vein, a preliminary report by the Transition Monitoring Group, has said INEC is yet to overcome chronic problems plaguing our elections.
The TMG is a coalition of over 400 civic organisations that have been involved in election monitoring in Nigeria since 1998.
Chairman of the group, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, released the preliminary findings at a media briefing in Abuja on Sunday.
He explained that based on reports from its 633 citizen observers deployed across the three senatorial districts and all the 21 Local Government Areas, the TMG found that there were serious shortcomings.
Zikirullahi listed some of the shortcomings to include, “Late arrival of election materials at polling units-as at 7:30am, observers reported that only 39percent of polling units across the state had their election material, and by 9:00am only 43 percent of polling units were able to open.
“No election took place in five wards of Idinmili North LGA-Abatete, Npor I, Npok II, Obosi and Ogidi I.”
He said while INEC efforts in providing an opportunity for some voters to vote on Sunday in Idemili North for example should be acknowledged, the shortcomings in the election undermined public confidence in the electoral process.
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